DerbyCon 2.0 – “The Reunion”. This is the place where security professionals from all over the world come to hang out. DerbyCon 2.0 will be held September 27-30th, 2012. DerbyCon 2011 pulled in over 1,100 people with an amazing speaker lineup and a family-like feel. We’ve listened to your feedback and plan on making this conference even better. Our goal is to keep it around the same size and maintain a close-knit conference where we all come together to learn and share ideas.

At DerbyCon 2011, the security community raised over $13,000 for the Hackers for Charity foundation, over double of other conferences. This is just one example of the many amazing things that happened at the conference.

We will be having some announcements on speakers, call for papers, and much more soon. Check back here frequently for more news.

I panicked a bit because the dates I choose for the hotel reservation showed no availability (I tried to go one day earlier on the 25th), but I think that's because they lock down the group rate for only Sept 26 - Oct 1. The main Hyatt site still shows availability on the 25th, but the rooms are indeed a bit pricier. I'm confirmed for Sept 26 - Oct 1, and I hope a bunch of you can make it out as well.

jason wrote:I'm still debating on whether to take a class or not. Anyone else taking one?

I'd like to, but I'm going to pass since I'm funding this little adventure myself. If they don't fill up and they let you add training on later, I may reconsider closer to the event. It definitely looks like some good material.

I'll be there but doubt I'll take a class. Gets harder to justify to management since I replace what would otherwise be an RSA or a Black Hat with the trifecta of Shmoo/Def/Derby cons on the basis of cost vs value proposition. Adding even a $1000 training strains that logic a bit. (due to travel costs x 3 instead of just once)

I took the Win32 Exploit Boot Camp by Corelan last year and I will say that the instructor and content was excellent. The only complaint I had about the course was it had too much content for the two sessions. The course was obviously designed for 4-5 days and cramming it into two sessions didn't work well but it was still helpful. The instructor and his assistants were very knowledgeable and helpful but it would have been much better with more time. My biggest problem with taking the class was I felt I missed a lot of things I wanted to do because of the class. This year they are having the training before the Con starts so it might be worth it.

With that said this is a great Con and I recommend it to anyone. Location is good and prices not bad at all. Lots of great speakers. And even the attendees were awesome. I have one tip, if you are attending bring your own snack food. Vending machines are basically non-existent and the location isn't really close to a convenience store. After 8 or 9 PM your "junk" food and soda options get very limited unless you want to drive somewhere.